Should feminists oppose prostitution essay is inspired by Laurie Shrages arguments on prostitution in the society.
Free Essay on Whether Feminists Should Oppose Prostitution
In this article, I will discuss and interpret Laurie Shrages arguments about prostitution in the society. My main issue about Shrages’ views is that she describes prostitution in a narrow idea of western sense, ignoring significant aspects such as sex slavery as well as intersectional contributing causes such as class backgrounds and race. I also believe that Shrages’ arguments about prostitution are unacceptable and unrealistic especially when dealing with such social and economic issue, thus her opinions have no validity. However, I do not disagree with her arguments, but I think Shrages did not fully examine sex industry in our current society.
Prostitution causes many problems to the feminists; however most of the feminists are working hard to abolish unfair and illegal statutes which are being used to harass and penalize prostitutes. In addition, it exposes prostitutes to mistreatment by male allies. Unfortunately, some of the activists think that prostitute’s work is moral and political reasonable, for example, they argue that women providing sexual service at a fee submit themselves to sexual domination and they do suffer degradation because the society treats them as sexual products.
However, my main concern is to determine whether people opposed to the social demotion of women should seek to daunt salable sex. Therefore, I will provide moral arguments necessary for maintaining and sustaining condemnation of feminists on commercial sex being witnessed in our present society. Furthermore, I will analyze covetous sex in terms of our cultural beliefs and also principles responsible for organizing its practice in the impermanent American society. Just like any other business industry in the country, the sex industry is surrounded by deeply rooted values and believes that oppress women. Although my analyze is not advocating democratic reformation or abolition of sex industry through regulation by the government, I will instead concentrate on another political alternative which is necessary for subverting extensively held beliefs legitimating this industry in the society. Finally, I believe that once we all understand these cultural convictions, we will have no aspect resembling prostitution in our current society.
Fundamentally, the tolerance made by our society for commercial sex whether illegal or not shows that there is general acceptance of some principles that prolong social subordination against women. Likewise, their participation in this industry exploiting female myths, and causing sexual vulnerability as well as social inequality implies that both female and the client accept beliefs and values thus assigning to peripheral social functions in our cultural organizations. It is not good to blame those working in the sex industry, but it will be better if we question legitimize of this industry and social principles implied to our tolerance for this industry.
Since society perceives individuals working in the sex industry as sexually oriented people and also think that it is unsafe for a person to work in such place, prostitute’s work has social implications different from other professional work, for example, women working or have already worked in the commercial sex industry have limited future social projections. Contrary to other society such as medieval French society, prostitutes are not taken as domestic servants in our families. Unlike other women in the society, prostitutes are seen as sullied creatures. Nonetheless, the society vindicates and tolerates prostitution.
Furthermore, women providing commercial sex and the man patronizing women’s epitomize and reinforcing social principles I have highlighted include beliefs attributing to human persuasive and endangering sex that makes men feel satisfied without causing self-harm through measured sexual encounters.
In addition, the prostitutes cannot change any political implications of their work by basically offering their reasons for the provision of their services. For instance, Margo St. James tries to present prostitute women as skilled sexual therapists who can serve legitimate social needs. However, according to Shrages, although commercial sex workers may be unconventional in their sexual behaviors, they always show dignity and honesty while performing their tasks. Truly, this protection against prostitution is implausible, because it does not consider the possible consequences of prostitutes’ behaviors on themselves, their clients, and the society. Therefore, it is wrong to say that participation of women in prostitution have little effect on their behaviors and indeed does not subvert them from cultural principles that may make them more dangerous.
Also, Ann Garry arrived at a similar conclusion about pornography when Garry stated that sex is not a dirty and a harmed object as most people in the society think, but what bothered Ann most is that this was an opinion which was installed in our culture and language. Ann further claimed that as far as sex is linked to the harm done to women, then it is hard to see pornography as diminishing to women. Therefore, the attitude of the audience is very significant in making an individual cautious of giving passionate approval to the current pornography. Sometimes, prostitutes may demand the meaning of their actions examined in relation to their idiosyncratic values and faiths, both social and political definition of their actions must be examined in the social and political setting in which they happen.
Surprisingly, many people in our society are always seeking for commercial sexual services with the aim of gaining high-quality experience in sex. Many people in our society are paying for meals, medical advice, and education so that they could obtain more information, goods, or even services that are more superior to what they can get locally. Unfortunately, there are great differences in the context in which people view prostitute’s services and violation of women involved in commercial sex. Therefore in the context where women involved in supplying sex on profitable basis are given normal social advantages, but they are not stigmatized.
Moreover, since prostitutes are given low social respects in our society, because of the behavior of their work, the services of the prostitutes are not overall seen as a gourmet product. In another term, if industrial sex is taken as a professional business, then women involved in the provision of commercial sex will not be seen as the prostitutes who devote their body to base determination opposite to their real interests.
However, for us to subvert the existing beliefs, cultures, and values on which the present commercial sex is structured in the society, there is need for female prostitutes to start taking their social role, for instance, if they are given power to determine the customer’s needs, required conditions, and cost, they would, therefore, gain sexual professional status. Also, women should provide some special technical skills for solving issues related to human sexuality if they want to establish themselves as sex therapists. According to Shrages, a person must not concentrate on individual’s experience when establishing her/his credentials as a professional. Therefore, if sex industry is reformed and complies with the above-mentioned conditions, then the image of this industry will change greatly in our society.
In addition, most people in our society think that human being naturally owns, but are socially powerless and emotionally subverting sexual appetites. Further, most of us assume that it is damaging and can cause pollution to women if they are in contact with male genital. This is because the male is always seen as superior in the society and they are the one to make a decision.
Finally, the interaction between the social identity of a person and her sexual characters plays a very significant role in determining the society views about prostitution, for example, a person having a sexual relationship with an individual of the same gender is called homosexual and woman having many sexual partners are called ‘loose woman’. Therefore, critically these categories provide bad images to our society.
In conclusion, though I sometimes agree with Shrages’ view about prostitution in our society, for this I am not conquering with Shrages. Feminists should be given an opportunity to carry out their activities which would ensure that commercial sex is no longer practiced in our society because it has installed some immoral values to our young people.
Works Cited
Shrage, Laurie. Ethics. 47-361.